Rack tower

ABSTRACT

A tower device for securing a crossbar on a vehicle includes a base portion, a tower portion, and a pivotal cover member.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/407,841, filed Apr. 4, 2003, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sports equipment rack for a vehicle.More particularly, the present invention provides a rack towerconfigured to be attached to a vehicle roof rail.

1. Background of the Invention

Sports equipment racks for vehicles typically include one or morecrossbars configured to extend across a vehicle roof for supportingrecreational equipment items over the roof. Typically, each crossbar isattached to the car roof via a pair of towers. The towers serve both tocouple the crossbar to the vehicle, and to support the crossbars overthe vehicle roof so that the crossbars do not contact the roof.

Many different types of rack towers are known, and may be configured tobe attached to a vehicle roof in any of a number of different ways. Forexample, some rack towers are configured to be attached to vehicle roofrails. Roof rails are long, narrow, rail-shaped devices mounted to theroofs of many vehicles, often by the vehicle manufacturer. A vehiclewith roof rails typically has a plurality of rails that run at leastpartially along the length of the roof in a parallel relation to oneanother. Roof rails generally include a slotted track that contains oneor more mounts or connectors. These connectors are typically configuredto accept a fastener, such as a bolt, to allow the attachment of itemssuch as rack towers to the roof rail, and thus to the vehicle.

Rack towers that mount to roof rails offer some advantages over othertypes of towers. For example, these towers may be mounted to vehiclesthat lack rain gutters or other features commonly used for mounting racktowers. Also, these towers typically are supported completely by theroof rails, and do not otherwise touch the vehicle roof.

However, known rack towers for mounting to a roof rail may also presentsome shortcomings. For example, these towers are typically configured toremain at a fixed angle to the roof once the tower is adjusted for aparticular roof. In this situation, a user may need to exercise carewhen mounting or removing the rack from the vehicle roof to avoiddamaging the roof rails by lifting one tower while the other is attachedto the vehicle. Also, the bolts used to mount the towers to thefasteners inside the rail slots are typically not accessible when thetower portion is mounted to the base portion. In this case, the towerportions typically must be removed from the base portions to adjust theposition of the rack on the vehicle roof.

Additionally, the hardware used to tighten the tower onto a crossbar isoften located in a position that may be difficult to adjust once thetower portion is mounted to the base. Furthermore, this hardware may beexposed to highway dirt or dust, which may clog the hardware and makethe tower more difficult to adjust.

2. Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention provides a rack tower configured to be mounted toa roof rail of a vehicle that may avoid the problems encountered withconventional towers. The advantages of the present invention will beunderstood more readily after a consideration of the drawings and theDetailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is partial view of a vehicle roof, showing a rack tower accordingto a first embodiment of the present invention attached to a roof rail.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded isometric view of the embodiment of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a partially broken-away perspective view of the embodiment ofFIG. 1, with the tower cover closed and the locking pins in the extendedposition.

FIG. 4 is a partially broken-away perspective view of the embodiment ofFIG. 1, with the tower cover open and the locking pins in the retractedposition.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, with the tower coverclosed.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, with the tower coverclosed and the locking pins engaged with the base.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, with the tower coveropen.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, with the tower coveropen and the locking pins disengaged from the base.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows, generally at 10, a rack tower according to a firstembodiment of the present invention, coupled to a vehicle roof rail 12.Rack tower 10 includes a base 14 and a tower portion 16. Base 14 isconfigured to be mounted to one or more connectors disposed within aslot 18 formed in roof rail 12. Tower portion 16 is configured to becoupled to base 14, and also to retain a crossbar 20, to thus couple thecrossbar to the vehicle.

FIG. 2 shows the construction of rack tower 10 in more detail. Base 14includes one or more bolt holes 22 (two are shown) configured to acceptbolts 24 to secure the base to the connectors disposed within slot 18 ofroof rail 12. Base 14 also includes an inner surface 26 against whichtower portion 16 may rest when coupled to base 14. Inner surface 26 istypically configured to have a shape complementary to the shape of thebottom surface of tower portion 16. In the depicted embodiment, innersurface 26 has a continuously curved shape that allows tower portion 16to pivot relative to base 14, as described in more detail below. Thisallows one side of crossbar 20 to be lifted without damaging the roofrail to which the other side of the crossbar is attached, and alsoallows crossbar 20 to be more easily adapted for use on roofs ofdifferent profiles. However, it will be appreciated that inner surface26 may have any other suitable shape without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

Base 14 also includes a pair of recesses 28. Recesses 28 are configuredto receive of a pair of complementary locking pins 30 that are movablycoupled to tower portion 16. Locking pins 30 are movable between aretracted position, in which the locking pins do not extend intorecesses 28, and an extended position, in which the locking pins doextend into the recesses. This allows tower portion 16 to be mounted tobase 14 simply by resting the tower portion against inner surface 26 ofbase 14, and then moving locking pins 30 into recesses 28. Likewise,tower portion 16 may be removed from base 14 simply by moving lockingpins 30 out of recesses 28, and then removing the tower portion from thebase. The operation of locking pins 30 is described in more detailbelow.

Tower portion 16 includes a body 32 and a tower cover 34. Body 32typically includes an aperture 36 configured to accommodate crossbar 20,and also may include a wedge 38 that is adjustable via bolt 40 to gripor clamp crossbar 20 within aperture 36.

Body 32 also includes a pair of generally cylindrical locking pin mounts42. The depicted locking pin mounts 42 have a generally curved shapethat is configured to be complementary to the shape of inner surface 26of base 14 to facilitate the pivoting of tower portion 16 on the base.However, the locking pin mounts 42 may have any other suitable shapewithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

Locking pin mounts 42 are each configured to hold a locking pin sleeve44 firmly in position relative to body 32. As shown in FIG. 2, onelocking pin sleeve 44 is shown separate from body 32, while the otherlocking pin sleeve 44 is shown positioned within locking pin mount 42.Each locking pin sleeve 44 has a threaded inner surface that iscomplementary to threads 46 formed in each locking pin 30. Theinteraction of threads 46 on locking pins 30 with the threads on theinner surfaces of locking pin sleeves 44 causes locking pins 30 to movelinearly along their axis of rotation 51 relative to locking pin sleeves44 when the locking pins are rotated. Thus, locking pins 30 can be madeto retract into or extend out of locking pin sleeves 44 by rotating thelocking pins with respect to the locking pin sleeves.

The rotation of locking pins 30 may be accomplished by causing lockingpins 30 to rotate with movements of tower cover 34. To accomplish this,tower cover 34 includes a downwardly extending locking pin bracket 48.Locking pin bracket 48 is configured to accommodate a flattened (orotherwise shaped) portion 49 at the end of each locking pin 30. Lockingpin bracket 48 is also configured to allow locking pins 30 to slidelinearly along the inner surfaces of the bracket, but not to rotate withrespect to the bracket.

A bracket cover 50 configured to snap onto the bracket may be used toretain ends 49 of locking pins 30 within the bracket. Bracket cover 50may include a lower surface complementary in shape to the inner surface26 of base 14. This, combined with the ability of locking pins 30 torotate within locking pin sleeves 44, allows tower cover 34 to bepivoted between an open position and a closed position with respect tobody 32. Tower cover 34 pivots along an axis of rotation 51 that extendsgenerally through both locking pins 30. The closed position isillustrated in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, and the open position is illustrated inFIGS. 4, 7 and 8. The base is shown in phantom in FIGS. 5-8, while thepositions of locking pins 30 are indicated in dashed lines in theseFigs.

The operation of rack tower 10 is illustrated in more detail in FIGS.3-8. FIGS. 3-4 show operation of the rack tower from a perspective view,and FIGS. 5-8 show the operation of the rack tower from side and frontviews. Initially, when tower cover 34 is in the closed position, lockingpins 30 are in the extended position, and extend into recesses 28 inbase 14. However, when tower cover 34 is pivoted away from body 32,bracket 48 causes locking pins 30 to rotate along with the tower cover34. The threads within locking pin sleeves 44 then cause locking pins 30to retract into the sleeves as the locking pins rotate. Locking pins 30may retract completely into locking pin sleeves 44 when tower cover 34is opened far enough, as shown in FIG. 4. This allows tower portion 16to be easily removed from base 14. Likewise, tower portion 16 may becoupled to base 14 simply by placing the tower portion 16 upon innersurface 26 of base while tower cover 34 is in the open position, andthen pivoting the tower cover to the closed position.

Besides providing for the quick attachment of tower portion 16 to base14, the use of tower cover 34 also offers other advantages overconventional rack towers. For example, tower cover 34 covers much of thehardware used to mount and adjust rack tower 10 when in the closedposition. Thus, mounting bolts 24 and wedge adjustment bolt 40 areprotected from contamination by road dust and dirt when tower cover 34is closed. This may keep the bolts operating smoothly for a longerperiod of time compared to unprotected bolts.

Furthermore, referring again to FIG. 2, tower cover 34 may include alock mount 52 configured to accept the attachment of a locking mechanism(not shown). When installed on rack tower 10, the locking mechanism maybe locked by a user to prevent others from opening tower cover 34.Because mounting bolts 24 and wedge adjustment bolt 40 are completelycovered when tower cover 34 is closed, locking the locking mechanismprevents the mounting or adjustment bolts from being tampered with, andthus may help to prevent the theft of rack tower 10 or crossbar 20. Itwill be appreciated that mounting bolts 24 and wedge adjustment bolt 40are all easily accessible by a user when tower cover 34 is in the openposition (mounting bolts 24 are accessible through access holes 54 inbody 32), without any need to remove tower portion 16 from base 14.

It is believed that the disclosure set forth above encompasses multipledistinct inventions with independent utility. While each of theseinventions has been disclosed in its preferred form, the specificembodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to beconsidered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. Thesubject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obviouscombinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features,functions and/or properties disclosed herein.

Inventions embodied in various combinations and subcombinations offeatures, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed throughpresentation of new claims in a related application. Such new claims,whether they are directed to a different invention or directed to thesame invention, whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scopeto the original claims, are also regarded as included within the subjectmatter of the inventions of the present disclosure.

1. A tower assembly for supporting a crossbar over a vehicle roofcomprising a pair of bases, each base being configured for attachment toa roof rail, and a pair of tower portions, each tower portion having aclamp device providing adjustable gripping of a crossbar and a pivotablecover that prevents adjustment of the clamp device, and latches thetower portion to the respective base when it is moved to a closedposition.
 2. The tower assembly of claim 1, wherein one or more recessesare defined in each base, the respective tower portion having one ormore extendible pins for engaging the one or more recesses in the basewhen the cover is rotated to the closed position.
 3. A tower assemblyfor supporting a crossbar over a vehicle roof comprising a pair ofbases, each base being configured for attachment to a roof rail, and apair of tower portions, each tower portion having a clamp deviceproviding adjustable gripping of a crossbar and a mechanism forattaching the tower portion to the respective base, the clamp deviceincluding a wall defining a cylindrically shaped aperture, and anadjustable wedge member having a surface forming a portion of the wall.4. The tower assembly of claim 3, wherein the clamp device has athreaded member impinging on the wedge member in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to a crossbar supported by the towerportion.
 5. The tower assembly of claim 3 wherein each tower assemblyhas a moveable cover that can be locked in a position preventingadjustment of the wedge member position.